Professor: David McKie

Office: 1-613-290-7380
E-Mail: davidmckiec@gmail.com

David, Fred Vallance-Jones, Rob Cribb and Dean  Jobb are co-authors of
Digging Deeper Third Edition
David McKie and Jim Bronskill are co-authors of
Your Right To Know: How to Use the Law to
Get Government Secrets

 David and Fred are co-authors of
“The Data Journalist: Getting the Story“
You can also obtain a copy of The Data Journalist e-book. You’ll need a Kobo device or reader (reader available free for Android, iOS, Mac and PC).

Biography | Week one | Week two | Week three | Week four | Week five |   Assignment One |  Assignment Two | Assignment Three | Assignment Four | Tutorials |  Programs to download | Datasets | Readings | Additional Resources |

Tuesday and Thursday mornings: 9:35-12:35 in lab two from July 9 to August 8.

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

Though this course will be taught virtually, the goals remain the same as they always have been: to arm you with a substantial knowledge of public records that will lead to original storytelling.

The course will be light on lecturing via a virtual platform to be decided in the coming weeks, and heavy on doing. The emphasis will be hands-on learning with the ability for me to remotely walk you through steps you may find difficult.

There will be lots of short tutorials, with step-by-step explanations. I will also retain regular office hours during the hours after our morning classes.

The pandemic will still be making news by the time we gather. As such, we will tailor the assignments to various aspects of the crisis: health, economics and government accountability. If you want to take a break from COVID-19, you’ll be able to do unrelated stories.

So, with this information in mind, please feel free to read the rest of the course description.

This course will teach students how to locate, obtain and read public records with an investigative and data mindset. Students will learn to probe public records to uncover connections and patterns of information that might be invisible from reviewing one record in isolation. Students will learn how public records fit into a complete research strategy with the aim of telling, investigative, original and breaking stories, or simply adding context to ongoing stories.

The course will cover tools such as federal access-to-information and provincial/municipal freedom-of-information requests, as well as journalists’ legal rights to specific types of information and key repositories of public records. We will focus on public records,  including documents and databases that can be downloaded and analyzed in spreadsheets like Excel, mapping and visualization programs such as Qgis.

The course will encourage students to think laterally about these records, finding information that can help to find original stories, or stories that provide value-added context to the large issues of the day.

Each assignment will build upon the previous one, and incorporate some of the multi-media tools learned in other classes. There will be more on this on the weeks to come. So, please stay tuned.

To aid our analysis of how these records can be used, the material will be classified into general themes such as government, the courts, business with an investigative frame of mind. For instance, learning how to follow money: how it’s made, lost and hidden.

Such classifications will aid in our ability to cross-reference the information and think strategically about records, which will include, but not be limited to, the following categories:

GOVERNMENT

Hansard, Canada Gazette (and its provincial cousins); bills; statutes; regulations; policies; evaluations and audits; Orders in Council; budgets; estimates; public accounts; public sector salary disclosure; disclosure of contracts and travel in various jurisdictions; polls conducted for departments; formal and informal answers to questions from members of Parliament; discussion papers; municipal reports; minutes of meetings; Statistics Canada; and news releases.

LEGAL

Court decisions; informations (charges); exhibits; transcripts; civil filings;
bankruptcy records; search warrants; divorce documents; Judge Advocate General reports (the military); crime; statistics; records of professional disciplinary bodies and quasi-­judicial tribunals.

WHAT PEOPLE OWN

Land titles, mortgages, assessments, liens; shares in companies; and assets such as boats and cars.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Public securities filings (SEDAR, EDGAR); financial statements; management information circulars; annual reports; political campaign contributions; contracts and tenders at the federal, provincial, municipal levels and lobbyist registries.

SPECIALIZED RECORDS

Transport Canada’s online database of vehicle recalls; Health Canada’s drug, medical and consumer product safety data; Workplace safety data; Revenue Canada’s listings of revoked charities; federal and municipal lobbyist registries, environmental records such as the National Pollutant Release Inventory; Industry Canada’s trade data, Statistics Canada’s 2016 census data, COVID-19 tracking websites, etc.

STORYTELLING

This isn’t a storytelling course, per se. However, evocative narrative is essential, especially for original stories. If no one reads, listens to, or watches your story, then all the effort to obtain the records we’ve discussed thus far is practically meaningless. So, stories must also possess an essential element — people. That is, strong central characters who can help drive the narrative, as is the case with tragedies such as COVID-19 crisis and Nova Scotia’s mass shooting victims

Since our focus is digital, stories will be posted to specific categories on this WordPress site, and they will be multi-media, employing the tools you’ve already learned, and some new ones that we’ll discover in this course.

ASSESSMENT

The normal journalistic standards will apply to the assignments. The work must be submitted on time. Generally, you will be graded on factors such as the precision and clarity of the writing, the thoroughness of the research that we’ve discussed in class, and the creativity needed to take your research and interviews beyond the regular suspects that populate too many stories, namely, spokespeople and oft-quoted officials. Specifically, you will be graded on the criteria established for each assignment. Grammatical mistakes and errors due to a lack of proofreading will all lead to a loss of marks. Factual errors may result in a failing grade. Stories should be written in accordance with Canadian Press style.

Given that stories online lend themselves to a multi-media treatment to a greater degree than print, television or radio,  you’ll be graded on those elements and the extent to which they are seamlessly blended into the story. Whether it be a photo, timeline, map, chart, graph, the element must not only be a natural part of the narrative, but add value.

Multi-media elements such as photos, maps and graphs must be clear, contain value-added content, proper citation of the source, cut lines and titles. Failure to include these elements will result in lost marks.

The assignments will be comprised of two parts: an explanation of the steps taken to locate the record(s), the reason the methodology was employed and how the material was employed as a source, or major component of the story; and the story itself. Each part will be marked equally because it is important to reward the process ( as opposed to effort ) of finding the story. That means 50 percent for methodology and 50 percent for the story.

Assignments will be graded for both their journalistic and production values. Marks for the journalistic values will be based on the strength or newsworthiness of the story idea; originality of research; the depth of your research and the ability to overcome obstacles in gathering research, interviews, photos and other elements critical to the assignment.

The stories we produce each week will be posted on the class website and students will be encouraged to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to publicize their stories and solicit tips that could lead to more stories or follow-ups. In short, the class will be run like a newsroom. If you prefer not to make your work public, you can simply designate the story as private.  The instructor will also do the same if the story contains information that could be considered libellous, for instance.

And, finally,  10% of your final grade will be based on your professionalism: showing up on time, participating in class, buying the textbooks,  reading the assigned textbook chapters, doing the assigned Excel skills (pivot tables and functions, for instance), responding to emailed queries promptly.

Students must achieve at least a B-.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE MARKING SCHEME

Research Component 50%

Depth of research 10%

Originality 20%

Creative use of material 20%

Total 50%

Storytelling 50%

Precision and clarity 20%

Originality 30%

Total 50%

*Marks will be deducted for errors of spelling, grammar and CP style.

See detailed rubric at the end of the outline.

Assignments are to be uploaded to our website on time, and unless there are unusual circumstances such as a medical emergency, no extensions will be granted. If an assignment cannot be completed for a medical reason, you will be required to provide a doctor’s note.

The assignments — the stories, public records and explanation of research methodology — will be submitted as emailed attachments. The assignments will be graded promptly.

Assignment one 15%

Assignment two 15%

Assignment three 35%

Excel Quizzes: 25%

Professionalism 10%

Total 100%

Assignment one: A story that follows the money reading financial statements of a public institution.

Assignment two: A story based on legal records.

Assignment three: A story that backgrounds a newsworthy figure.

Assignment four: A data-driven story based on sources to be determined.

Grading Scale:

A+: 90-­100

A: 85-89

A-: 80-84

B+: 77-79

B: 73-76

B-: 70-72

F: <70

Students must achieve a B- in all classes. Disputes over academic performance and assessment will be dealt with according to the Academic Regulations of the School of Journalism. Students may appeal decisions of the Journalism Studies Committee to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

For more information, see the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University Graduate Calendar.

PROFESSIONALISM

The professionalism you exhibit in your conduct, work habits and assignments are emphasized because they will matter in your career.

Because we’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists, you will be expected to exhibit the appropriate behaviour. That means attending our virtual classes, showing up on time; being prepared and ready to make a meaningful contribution based the readings and work you’ve been assigned; paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring cell phones, email correspondence, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds, and text messages while in class; and promptly responding to the instructor’s emailed correspondence. In short, no multi-tasking.

You’ll also be expected to stay on top of current events, which is part of your obligation as a journalist. If you must miss class, you will be expected to communicate with the instructor via email beforehand. You will also be expected to exhibit the conduct of a professional journalist when working on assignments in the field.

You will also be expected to complete the readings, as they, too, will form the basis for our discussions.

If you find an assigned exercise or assignment is confusing, it is your responsibility to seek clarity.

READING MATERIAL

The course textbook will be Digging Deeper: A Canadian Reporter’s Research Guide Third Edition, and The Data Journalist, which is augmented with online tutorials, outlining ways to use Excel, PDF-cracking software, Tableau Public and other programs that visualize data.

COMMUNICATION WITH STUDENTS

In addition to regular virtual office hours, communication will also take place through emailed correspondence and phone calls. The protocol will dictate that emailed queries be answered as promptly as possible because that is how it is done in newsrooms.

As such, it will be important for students to regularly check their email accounts for communications such as revisions to instructions for assignments or readings, additions to the syllabus, or notes about a particular news story that you may be required to read, watch or listen to.  For the most part, my lessons will be based on events making news. The excuse that I forgot to check my email is unprofessional and will not be accepted!

COURSE DETAILS

The class will meet every week for a total of six hours that will be broken
up into two virtual sessions on separate days, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:35 to 12:35.

Since Excel is crucial to a lot of the work we’ll be doing, each class will begin with a 30-minute exercise designed to advance your skills. Between classes you’ll be able to practice, using tutorials based on downloadable datasets in the online tutorials that accompany specific chapters in The Data Journalist.

These exercises will be followed by a general discussion about a news item that relates to the lesson of the day. From there, we will learn the research methods that we’ll need for the next assignment. In short, the classes will be designed to prepare you for each assignment. For instance, in the first week, you’ll be given ample time to choose a public institution such as the Nova Scotia Health Authority,  and study the financial numbers you’ll be using for the story.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The School of Journalism vigorously enforces the highest standards of academic integrity.

Plagiarism is the duplication in whole or in part of work created for another purpose. This can be work done by another student, published work or even a student’s own work that has been re-purposed for a class. Plagiarism can be reflected in actual language, or in the duplication of an idea or a sequence.

Do not cut and paste information from the Internet. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, consult your instructor. All cases of suspected plagiarism will be dealt with according to the policy.

Academic integrity issues will be dealt with by the Academic Integrity Officer of the University of King’s College, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Dalhousie Senate, as outlined in the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University Graduate Calendar.

Please read this material carefully.

ACCOMMODATION

Statement on Accommodation:

Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers related to disability, religious obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Students who require academic accommodation for either classroom participation or the writing of tests, quizzes and exams should make their request to the Office of Student Accessibility & Accommodation (OSAA) prior to, or at the outset of, each academic term.

Please see http://studentaccessibility.dal.ca/for more information and to obtain Form A – Request for Accommodation.

A note-taker may be required to assist a classmate. There is an honorarium of $75/course/term. If you are interested, please contact OSAA at 1-902-494-2211 for more information.

Biography (TOP)

David McKie is an Ottawa-based adjunct journalism professor, data-journalism trainer and award-winning author who spent 26 years honing his skills at the CBC where his award-winning work (the CAJ, IRE and Michener) influenced policies in areas such as the adverse reactions of prescription drugs and medical devices, as well as the RCMP’s use of Tasers. David is an adjunct professor at the schools of journalism at Carleton University and the University of King’s College. He is a trainer with the Canadian Association of Journalists, who has co-authored three journalism textbooks and two user guides on the topics of access to information laws and privacy.

David works with National Observer’s investigative team as the deputy managing editor.

You can read more about his background by clicking here.

Data Driven Stories

COVID-19 links
http://www.davidmckie.com/covid-19-links/

Investigative – Dan McArthur Award – CBC News: Canada’s Broken School Violence Reporting System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5l6HcNONfc&feature=youtu.be

CAJ Award Winners

Investintech — CAJ Data Journalism Scholarship
https://www.investintech.com/data-journalism-scholarship/winners/

Les églises converties du Québec
https://noradnargel.wixsite.com/monsite

2019 Michener Finalists

http://www.michenerawards.ca/michener-awards-foundation-announces-finalists-for-the-2019-michener-award-for-meritorious-public-service-journalism/

CBC News — Shattered Trust: Sexual Offences in Amateur Sport
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/topic/Tag/Shattered%20Trust

Halifax Examiner — The Wrongful Conviction of Glen Assoun
http://www.michenerawards.ca/michener-awards-foundation-announces-finalists-for-the-2019-michener-award-for-meritorious-public-service-journalism/

La Presse — Dirty Business
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/after-reports-of-illegal-dumping-quebec-to-track-contaminated-soil/

The London Free Press — We Are The Cops
https://lfpress.com/tag/we-are-the-cops/

The Globe and Mail — False Promises
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-false-promises-how-foreign-workers-fall-prey-to-bait-and-switch/

Institute for Investigative Journalism — Tainted Water
(collaborating newsrooms: The Toronto Star, Le Devoir, Regina Leader-Post, Global News, National Observer, Star Halifax/Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton)
https://www.nationalobserver.com/special-reports/tainted-water

 2018 Philip Meyer Award winners

2019 Philip Meyer Award winners
https://www.ire.org/awards/philip-meyer-awards/2019-philip-meyer-award-winners

Philip Meyer Award Judges

https://www.ire.org/awards/philip-meyer-awards/judges/

COURSE OUTLINE

Week One: July 7, 9: (TOP)

What you will learn

How to glean the key information from a financial statement

How to calculate percent change

How to follow the money

How to use Acrobat Pro (or a version) to pull expenditure tables out of financial records

How to clean and verify numbers

How to upload and use DocumentCloud

Links

Canadian Survey on Business Conditions: Impact of COVID-19 on businesses in Canada, May 2020
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200714/dq200714a-eng.htm?HPA=1

HRM lowers target amount of operating loan from province
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/hrm-lowers-target-amount-of-operating-loan-from-province-470195/

Halifax’s authorization to borrow money from the Municipal Finance Corporation
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6982086-Authorization-to-Borrow-Money.html

Canadian tourism group’s push to loosen restrictions poses serious risk for second COVID-19 wave
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-tourism-groups-push-to-loosen-restrictions-poses-serious/

Air Canada to lay off 20,000 workers as pandemic collapses travel industry
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-layoffs-1.5572596

Government announces support for air transportation sector during COVID-19 pandemic
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/government-announces-support-for-air-transportation-sector-during-covid-19-pandemic.html

Via Rail to lay off 1,000 employees amid coronavirus disruptions
https://globalnews.ca/news/7153130/coronavirus-via-rail-layoffs/

Air Canada
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home.html#/

Air Canada 1st Quarter 2020 financial statement uploaded to DocumentCloud
https://www.documentcloud.org/search/Project:%20%22Corporate%20filings%22

Sedar
https://sedar.com/homepage_en.htm

StatCan release schedules

Statistics Canada’s data tables

To obtain the Statistics Canada tutorial on using data tables, please click here.

Labour force characteristics by sex and detailed age group, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1410001701#timeframe

Labour force tables
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/type/data?subject_levels=14%2C1402%2C140205&freq=6&geoname=A0002&sourcecode=3701

Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410028701

Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-20-0001/142000012018001-eng.htm

Canada adds 950K jobs in June, unemployment falls amid coronavirus pandemic
https://globalnews.ca/news/7161539/coronavirus-canada-jobs-june-unemployment/?utm_source=notification/

Le taux de chômage baisse en juin, après un record en mai
https://www.ledevoir.com/economie/582251/chomage-canada?utm_source=LeDevoir&utm_medium=Alerte&utm_campaign=economie/582251/chomage-canada

Halifax Chamber of Commerce
https://business.halifaxchamber.com/events/details/navigating-covid-19-the-future-of-tourism-hospitality-2617?calendarMonth=2020-07-01

Canadian Economic Dashboard and COVID-19
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2020009-eng.htm?HPA=1

Energize Bridgewater receives $950K in ACOA funding for Energy Poverty Reduction Program
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/provincial/energize-bridgewater-receives-950k-in-acoa-funding-for-energy-poverty-reduction-program-475441/

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency supports tourism industry to help maintain local jobs and come back strong
https://www.canada.ca/en/atlantic-canada-opportunities/news/2020/06/atlantic-canada-opportunities-agency-supports-tourism-industry-to-help-maintain-local-jobs-and-come-back-strong.html?wbdisable=true

ACOA Project Informtion downloadable database
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/ad1f4897-3298-4d15-8e5e-094958be7388

Airlines are stuck in the middle on distanced seating – but they’re right to remove it
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-airlines-are-stuck-in-the-middle-on-distanced-seating-but-theyre/

Morneau expected to reveal federal deficit in excess of $300-billion
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-morneau-expected-to-reveal-federal-deficit-in-excess-of-300-billion/

‘The challenge of our lifetime’: Federal deficit to hit $343 billion this year
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/the-challenge-of-our-lifetime-federal-deficit-to-hit-343-billion-this-year-1.5015467

Restaurant industry warns future at risk without relief
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadas-biggest-business-lobby-warns-restaurant-industry-is-on-the/

Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/services/publications/economic-fiscal-snapshot.html

Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 uploaded to DocumentCloud
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6983305-Economic-and-Fiscal-Snapshot-2020.html#document/p61/a570933

Have COVID-19 Questions? We’ve Got Answers – Canadian Federation of Independent Business
https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en

Workplace COVID-19 prevention plans
https://novascotia.ca/reopening-nova-scotia/prevention-plans/#sector-plans

Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail
https://www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/salle-de-presse/covid-19-info-en/Pages/toolkit.aspx

Health experts press Ottawa for a more ‘balanced approach’ to tackling COVID-19 pandemic
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-health-experts-press-ottawa-for-a-more-balanced-approach-to-tackling/

Download today’s data on the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases worldwide
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html?topic=tilelink#a1

Have we normalized the COVID-19 death toll?https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/coronavirus_death_count_normalize.php?utm_source=CJR+Daily+News&utm_campaign=02893bc858-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_31_05_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9c93f57676-02893bc858-174520961&mc_cid=02893bc858&mc_eid=074a1d1b89

Week two:July 14, 17:(TOP)

What you will learn

Continue with the wonderful world of pivot tables

An introduction to court records (affidavits, search warrants, bankruptcy records, etc)

How to mine stories from those documents

Links

Proposed class action launched against Northwood over COVID-19 deaths
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-class-action-launched-northwood-1.5595560

Proposed Northwood lawsuit expanded to seek damages from N.S. government
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/proposed-northwood-lawsuit-expanded-to-seek-damages-from-n-s-government-1.4998568

A statement of claim in the proposed class action lawsuit against Halifax long-term care home Northwood.

Six Ontario nursing homes ‘failed to protect residents’ from COVID-19, proposed class action lawsuit alleges
https://www.cp24.com/news/six-ontario-nursing-homes-failed-to-protect-residents-from-covid-19-proposed-class-action-lawsuit-alleges-1.4913747

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed against Responsive Group Inc., a company that owns several nursing homes in Ontario.

Proposed class action lawsuit led by former constable alleges racism in RCMP
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rcmp-lawsuit-racism-1.5648362

RCMP Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Systemic Racism
https://ca.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/discrimination/rcmp-class-action-lawsuit-alleges-systemic-racism/

Alberta RCMP dashcam video shows violent arrest of First Nation chief, moments leading up to it
https://globalnews.ca/news/7058091/chief-adam-arrest-alberta-rcmp-dashcam-video/

Guidelines for Press, Media, and Public Access to the Courts of Nova Scotia
http://www.courts.ns.ca/documents/FINAL_MediaAccessGuidelines_interactive_06_01_17.pdf

Guidelines for Press, Media and Public Access to the Courts of Nova Scotia (Uploaded and partially annotated in DocumentCloud)
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2995331-Guidelines-for-Press-Media-and-Public-Access-to.html

The Courts of Nova Scotia – Registry of Class Actions
http://www.courts.ns.ca/Supreme_Court/NSSC_class_action_registry.htm

National Class Action Database
http://cbaapp.org/ClassAction/Search.aspx

Class Action Database (U.S.)
http://www.consumer-action.org/lawsuits/

Nova Scotia Bankruptcy Court
https://www.courts.ns.ca/Bankruptcy_Court/NSBC_home.htm

The Canadian Legal Information Institute  (a voluntary initiative and is not a comprehensive listing of all class action lawsuits currently underway in Canada)
http://canlii.org/en/index.php

Judging Sexual Assault Trials: Systemic Failure in the Case of Regina v Bassam Al-Rawi, 2017 95-1, 2017 CanLIIDocs 102

Kim – Spencer – McPhee Barristers
http://www.kimorr.ca/index.html

Federal Court of Canada
https://www.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/home

The Criminal Code
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/

Supreme Court of Canada
https://www.scc-csc.ca/home-accueil/index-eng.aspx

Tax Court of Canada
http://www.tcc-cci.gc.ca/

Canadian Law List
http://www.canadianlawlist.com/

Recent Courts Martial results
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/military-law/recent-courts-martial-results.html

List of Class Action Lawsuits (U.S)
http://www.classaction.org/list-of-lawsuits

Find out how to request a decision by the Parole Board of Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/parole-board/services/decision-registry.html

Quebec Human Rights Tribunal
http://www.tribunaux.qc.ca/mjq_en/TDP/index-tdp.html

Canada’s Regional Development Agencies: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/07677.html

Open Government Portal
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/od/?sort=last_modified_tdt%20desc&page=1&search_text=&od-search-portal=Open%20Data&_ga=2.238202688.1563670337.1594669862-1828628072.1579189745

Canadian Charities Listings
https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/srch/pub/dsplyBscSrch?request_locale=en

Atlantic Provinces Economic Council: Nonprofits under pressure during the Great Shutdown – April 8, 2020
https://www.apec-econ.ca/covid/ceoperspectives/april82020/
https://www.apec-econ.ca/about-us/board/view/?member.id=36

Statistics Canada Data Tables
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/type/data?MM=1

Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, Canada, provinces, territories and Census Metropolitan Areas
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701

Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in the Atlantic provinces
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017801

Court Record Examples

COVID-19 related class action claim against an Ontaio nursing home chain
Statement of claim against the RCMP
Omar Khadr 2010 Supreme Court of Canada decision uploaded to DocumentCloud
 Factum containing demands that Khadr’s settlement be given to victim uploaded to DocumentCloud
Parole Board Decision
Bankruptcy Filing
The bishop’s search warrant uploaded to DocumentCloud
Divorce Proceeding
National Parole Board Statistics
 Notice of proposed Armed Forces Settlement

Week Three: July 21, 23:(TOP)

What you will learn

A continuation of pivot tables

Digging into records we’ve used so far (financial statements and court documents), in addition to new ones we’ll learn this week, to background individuals

Methods used to background people such as advanced Internet searches, databases including political donations, land title searches and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

Links

To obtain the questions for our quiz, click here.

Personal bankruptcies fell to record low in April, but could be poised to soar
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/consumer-insolvencies-1.5597996

Have you been bankrupt? You could become Minister of National Revenue
http://www.davidmckie.com/have-you-been-bankrupt-you-could-become-minister-of-national-revenue/

Charity Gospel for Asia files for creditor protection after $170M lawsuit
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/gospel-for-asia-creditor-protection-subject-of-class-action-1.5656224

Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/eng/home

Bankruptcydata.com
http://bankruptcydata.com/

Nova Scotia’s Property Online
http://www.novascotia.ca/sns/access/land/property-online.asp

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
https://www.cpso.on.ca/

Toronto neurologist charged with several counts of sexual assault
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-neurologist-charged-with-several-counts-of-sexual-assault-1.4739409

Discipline Committee Schedule
(The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario)
https://www.cpso.on.ca/News/Discipline-Hearings

Halifax doctor’s licence revoked following relationship with ‘vulnerable patient’
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-doctor-s-licence-revoked-following-relationship-with-vulnerable-patient-1.5593250

Disciplinary Decisions & Interim Licence Sanctions (College of Physicians & Surgeons of Nova Scotia)
https://cpsns.ns.ca/category/disciplinary-decisions/

Un psychiatre de l’Hôpital de Maniwaki radié 4 mois pour manquements déontologiques
https://www.chga.fm/un-psychiatre-de-lhopital-de-maniwaki-radie-4-ans-pour-manquements-deontologiques/

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Quebec
http://www.cmq.org/decisions-disciplinaires/index.aspx?lang=en

Law Society of Upper Canada (list of disbarred lawyers)
http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=2147486087

Law Society Tribunal
https://lawsocietytribunal.ca/Pages/Mainpage.aspx#132

Convictions of executives upheld in historic Nova Scotia fraud case
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/convictions-of-executives-upheld-in-historic-nova-scotia-fraud-case-1.4799011

Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society: Decisions and Dispositions
https://nsbs.org/news-categories/decisions-and-dispositions/

Quebec  Bar: Disciplinary Hearings
https://www.barreau.qc.ca/roles-discipline/

Federation of Law Societies of Canada
https://flsc.ca/about-us/our-members-canadas-law-societies/

Public sector compensation: disclosure reports
https://beta.novascotia.ca/public-sector-compensation-disclosure-reports

Halifax Regional Municipality Statement of Compensation – 2019
https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/accountability-transparency/Statement%20of%20Compensation%202019.pdf

Federally appointed judges’ expenses to be made public for first time
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stefanovich-judicial-expenses-disclosure-1.5662316

Nova Scotia Employee Contact Directory Search
https://novascotia.ca/psc/geds/

The Government Electronic Directory Services
https://geds-sage.gc.ca/en/GEDS?pgid=002

Geektools
http://www.geektools.com/

DomainTools
http://whois.domaintools.com/dal.ca

The Wayback Machine
https://archive.org/web/

International buyers eye N.S. vacation properties — especially in Cape Breton
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/foreign-property-statistics-canada-cape-breton-properties-1.5213540

Nova Scotia
https://electionsnovascotia.ca/Electoral-Finance-Reports

Elections Canada
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=fin&&document=index&lang=e

Who backs Canada’s Politicians (National Post)
http://www.postmedia.com/2018/03/20/political-donations-database-allows-canadians-to-follow-the-money/

Privy Council Orders In Council database
http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/oic-ddc.asp?page=secretariats&lang=eng

Orders in Council Database (Nova Scotia)
https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/oic/

Halifax Regional Municipality Building Permits
http://catalogue.hrm.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/1ae0b449678241b3b6d17f1b832ab7a8_0

Federal lobbyists search
https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/eic/site/012.nsf/eng/00035.html

Lobbyists (Nova Scotia)
https://novascotia.ca/sns/lobbyist/

Week Four: July 28, July 30:(TOP)

What we will learn

Continuation of pivot tables

An introduction to Statistics Canada and the 2016 Census

Pivot table test using the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency data

How to create an account for ArcGIS Online following the tutorial

How to map using Qgis

Links:

Toronto city council votes to challenge Ontario law critics say could lead to mass evictions
https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2020/07/29/toronto-city-council-votes-to-challenge-ontario-law-critics-say-could-lead-to-mass-evictions.html

Residential eviction ban ends in N.S., concerns loom for tenants, landlords
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/provincial/residential-eviction-ban-ends-in-ns-concerns-loom-for-tenants-landlords-468211/

Landlords are complaining about tenants remaining in residences after eviction
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/landlords-are-complaining-about-tenants-remaining-in-residences-after-eviction-1.5007133

Acorn Canada
https://acorncanada.org/nova-scotia

The provision of professional stunt-actors in use of force scenario based training for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-19-00882831

Tender Notices data for download
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/ffd38960-1853-4c19-ba26-e50bea2cb2d5

I’m a data scientist who is skeptical about data
https://qz.com/1664575/is-data-science-legit/

Open Data 101
https://open.canada.ca/en/open-data-principles

Open Data Portals
http://www.davidmckie.com/open-data-portals/

Federal Open Data Portal
https://open.canada.ca/en/open-data

Question Period Notes
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/qp/

Search Briefing Note Titles and Numbers
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/bn/

List of access to information and privacy coordinators by institution
https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/ap/atip-aiprp/coord-eng.asp

Search Access To Information Requests
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy.html

Crime Stats From Halifax Open Data Site
http://catalogue-hrm.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/f6921c5b12e64d17b5cd173cafb23677_0

Halifax Open Data Portal
https://www.halifax.ca/home/open-data

Nova Scotia Open Data
https://data.novascotia.ca/

Liberals, Conservatives see drop in donations during height of COVID-19 pandemic
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/political-donations-june-2020-1.5671891

Elections Canada
https://www.elections.ca/home.aspx

Alcohol sends more Canadians to hospital than heart attacks: report
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/alcohol-sends-more-canadians-to-hospital-than-heart-attacks-report

Alcohol main cause of substance-related deaths in hospital
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/alcohol-hospital-1.5174338

Common Challenges, Shared Priorities: Measuring Access to Home and
Community Care and to Mental Health and Addictions Services in Canada
https://www.cihi.ca/en/shared-health-priorities-0

Canadian Institute for Health Information
https://www.cihi.ca/en

Week Five: August 4, 6: (TOP)

A discussion of the final assignment

A continuation of our review of open-data sites from the previous week

An introduction to mapping and Qgis

 

Final spreadsheet quiz

LINKS